1. Technical Field
The subject invention relates to a container holder. More particularly, the subject invention relates to convertible container holders.
2. Description Of Related Art
Vehicular container holders, rapidly becoming standard equipment, are being designed with increasingly more sophistication to insure convenience and stability. U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,707, issued to Anderson on Apr. 22, 1986, discloses a storage holder for a container adapted to be mounted in a seat cushion of a vehicle seat. The cup container holder is secured to the access door of the container holder. The container holder is rotated from the stored position into an access position wherein cups may be placed inside the container holder. If it is desired, the container may be unlatched allowing the container holder to expand to receive a tall container, such as a glass or a bottle. The upper portion of the container is spring biased into the extended position and must be forced down manually before the storage door may be rotated to its storage position after the container holder is no longer needed. Although this storage container holder adequately holds containers of various sizes in a stable manner as required in the vehicular environment, this storage holder is not adapted to be installed in both the arm cushion of a vehicular seat and, at the same time, the instrument panel of the vehicle. Because this design requires a large storage access door, this container holder cannot be placed on the instrument panel as it would take up too much space. Automotive companies are attempting to reduce costs due to inventory and a container holder design which is dedicated to a single part of the vehicle, i.e., the arm cushion or the instrument panel, are not desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,281, issued to DiFilippo et al. on Jan. 9, 1990, discloses a container holder adapted to be installed in both an arm cushion and an instrument panel. The container holder is telescoped out of a housing wherein a U-shaped support member pivots downwardly once the container holder extends out from the housing. A container is supported by the U-shaped support when it is placed through the hole on the container holder. If, however, the U-shaped support does not extend to the position fully perpendicular to the container holder, a container placed in the container holder may possibly drop through the container holder. Further, a U-shaped support such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,281 may result in a spilled beverage more easily due to the U-shaped support breaking in one location. More specifically, there is little or no redundant structure in such design to allow for a container holder to support a container if the U-shaped support fails. Finally, the U-shaped support style cupholder may be secured only to a small portion of an armrest i.e., the upper half thereof, due to the space required for the U-shaped support to rotate downwardly. Some armrest structures would have to be redesigned to include a portion of the support structure extending to the upper half of the cushion to accommodate this U-shaped support style cupholder.